FORT WORTH --
Employees at the Fort Worth headquarters got messages Tuesday morning saying: ``The work force reduction notification is currently in progress. Unfortunately your position is one that has been eliminated."
Company officials had told employees in a series of meetings that layoff notices would be delivered electronically, a spokeswoman said. She said employees were invited to ask questions before Tuesday's notification on a company intranet site.
Derrick D'Souza, a management professor at the University of North Texas, said he had never heard of such a large number of terminated employees being notified electronically. He said it could be seen as dehumanizing to employees.
``If I put myself in their shoes, I'd say, `Didn't they have a few minutes to tell me?' " D'Souza said.
Laid-off workers got one to three weeks pay for each year of service, up to 16 weeks for hourly employees, and 36 weeks for those with base bay of at least $90,000, the company said.
The company said Aug. 10 it would cut 400 to 450 jobs, mostly at headquarters, to cut expenses and ``improve its long-term competitive position in the marketplace."